Macau’s property market set for gloomy 2020 despite Beijing’s plans to transform it into a financial hub, say analysts
- Beijing recently unveiled a raft of incentives to diversify the city’s economy away from its reliance on the casino industry
- But investors are unlikely to take notice until more concrete plans materialise, say analysts
The outlook for Macau’s property market remains gloomy this year despite Beijing’s incentives to diversify the city’s economy away from the casino industry, according to analysts.
China’s banking and insurance regulator also unveiled a raft of policies to increase financial cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Macau.
However, these favourable factors for the development of Macau’s economy have had no immediate effect on the city’s property market, said Franco Liu, managing director of Savills Macau.
“I don’t see investors rushing to buy property in Macau because of recent talk of creating a financial hub here,” Liu said.
“The government in Macau still has not made any announcements or concrete plans on how to deal with this favourable turn of events. Investors will only begin to take notice once actual plans have been laid out and there’s a timetable.”
He believes it will take at least five years for the infrastructure and financial system to be ready for a stock exchange to be set up in Macau – one of the plans under consideration by the city’s government.
